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Preview: Rock Werchter 2017

There are only 15 names on the bill at the moment, but they’re already enough to know that a ticket to Belgium’s Rock Werchter festival will, once again, be one of the years must have items. With some of the world’s biggest rock acts and best up and comers going to be there, we’ve picked a few we’re already excited about.

Royal Blood:

We haven’t heard much from Royal Blood since they seemingly ruled the world back in 2014. Between then and their recent cryptic second album teasers (it’s coming this year!), their Black Sabbath-y track for HBO’s Vinyl asked the same thing we were asking them; ‘Where are you know?’! Written mostly in a warehouse where they’d “party all night and write all day”, the new album is sure to delight the crowds at one of Europe’s best rock festivals.

Radiohead:

Headlining the Friday night of the four day festival, the avant-pop-rock-electronic-whatevertheyare geniuses that are Radiohead are, of course, a must see. With rumours of last year’s fantastic A Moon Shaped pool being their final album, you just can’t afford to miss them.

James Blake:

With his introspective electropop, James Black has become a favourite to the stars. Kanye, Beyoncé, Rick Rubin and even the guy the does the drawings for the Roald Dahl books adore this Mercury Prize Winning Londoner. His music might stand out next to other acts like Foo Fighters for its fragility and sensitivity, but it’s a welcome addition to an already brilliant line up.

Future Islands:

Future Islands finally got the recognition they deserve when their Late Show performance of ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ went viral in 2014. And with good reason, their live performances are intense, passionate and certainly memorable. Recently, singer Sam Herring has been experimenting with rap as well as featuring on collaborations with Madlib, badbadnotgood and Clams Casino, which just adds to the fact that they’re one of the most interesting and creative bands out there.

Agnes Obel:

Discovered in a bar with an audience “of Obel’s sister and two of her friends, her manager and the barman”, this classically trained Danish singer-songwriter creates, through “influences as diverse as PJ Harvey and Claude DeBussy”, beautifully reflective and detailed music.